My build's hot enough with just medium lasers, throwing a large in there probably isn't helping you.

The key to this mech is taking advantage of your maneuverability -- you don't have much armor, but you do have a pretty nasty alpha and, more than almost any other mech, the ability to choose your fights. If you max out the engine, you should be able to move at ~100kph (115 with Speed Tweak).

If you get outnumbered or focused on, run...preferrably by jumping up/over something where most of the enemies can't follow, like Jenner Alley on Frozen City. If you see an Assault with his back turned, alpha him in the back as much as he'll let you get away with, then run. Lone Hunchback cut off from his team? Run his ass down. If you can find another light mech (or even better, -7M) to partner up with, that last bit's even nastier

I actually don't have much trouble with heat management, I haven't overheated yet, except that one time I was at >85% and a legged Raven 3L was sitting right in front of me. It was worth the 3 seconds of vulnerability to a nearby Cat (who was cored by a friendly Atlas, thankfully). I've also grouped my weapons as follows: 1= 2ML, 2= LL, 3= 2ASRM6, 4= chained 2ASRM6. This allows me to alpha and group fire on demand, and it's really helped with my heat management.

Perhaps I'm just too used to the ultra-maneuverability of the Lights. With my XL 300 I'm running at 97, so pretty close to the 100 you're recommending, but I sure don't corner buildings or other mechs as easily as before. The JJs really help with that.

I think my problem last night is that every match I played there were at least 3 lights on the other team. And for some reason, almost every death I had was from Lights. I was always at their mercy because they'd circle and Streak the shit out of me. Doesn't help that other Meds (Hunchies, Cents) ran off on their own and died a useless death.

Camp Freddie wrote:

Oh and due to the lack of LRMs following the missile nerf... the Jenner is back with a vengeance. I've been doing a lot of damage with a 6ML Jenner.

Oh I know that feeling. Before I went with a Trebuchet, I was hoping over Meds and coring them from above. I love running up a short hill, sailing over a worn out med or heavy, and just alpha-ing the CT for 30 dmg. I cored a few of Phracts and Cats last night doing that.

Double Heatsinks:[*]Engine Heatsinks in an engine up to a 250 rating engine run at 2.0[*]275 engine and above get you an engine slot - you pay tonnage but not crit space. DHS run at 1.4[*]DHS placed in any other slot run at 1.4

As for crit padding, I do it pretty regularly in my builds. In my Ilya with 3 Large + Gauss, I toss as many heat sinks as I can alongside the weapons. There's been many times I've had a torso or arm opened up, only to hear "Heatsink Destroyed", leaving my weapons intact. That gives me one more shot to hopefully disable the guy gunning for me. The heatsinks can't guarantee the weapon will survive, but this seems to work 3/4 times.

Highlander - I so hope the hero version can blast "Suspicious Minds" out of those speakers.

One little tip, not specifically directed at you but since you mentioned padding gauss rifles:

If you've got a gauss rifle, pad it with gauss ammo. The ammo's non-explosive (unlike the gun) and putting the ammo with the gun provides some protection against having an ammo-less gun because the ammo location fell off. If you've still got gauss ammo to place, it's also good for padding your other weapons unless the location is a bad place for other reasons.

Totally agree! Since the Gauss ammo is inert, it's great for crit padding. Further, I try to keep Gauss Rifles in arms since their explosion is generally enough to take the arm, but only do light damage to the Torso they're attached too. Especially important if you have an XL.

I recall an engagement on Frozen Night a week back while running my Ilya (3 Large + Gauss). Was in the middle city below the dropship and came across a 1X with 5 Mediums + Gauss. I engaged and we proceeded to dance around the buildings, exchanging fire as able. He finally turns and runs, I pursue, only to find he'd set up an ambush. He slams his fire into my RT, crits a heatsink and my large laser (NO GAUSS THERE BUDDY!!!). I slam my own fire into his RT and find his Gauss. Goodbye XL!

This means you could get a Commado 3A and TBT-7M for 1875 [MC]! Or maybe you want a COM-3A and DRG-1C – now you can get both for 1270 [MC]! Heck, go all Heavy/Assault and get the DRG-1C and the STK-4N for 2432 [MC]! Any way you do it, this is a great time to pick up those variants!

This sale will be on this weekend (but starting Thursday due to the Good Friday holiday) from March 28th at 10am PST till April 2nd at 10am PST. So act now, MechWarrior!

To further celebrate the Trial By Fire Sale, we’re giving double XP rewards all of this Easter Weekend! This means any XP you earned is doubled; 2x, 200%, increased!

This event will last from this Thursday, March 28th at 10am, till Monday, April 2nd at 10am.

So if you’re using a new Mech, eliting out an existing mech, now is your chance! We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield, and good luck, MechWarriors!

This means you could get a Commado 3A and TBT-7M for 1875 [MC]! Or maybe you want a COM-3A and DRG-1C – now you can get both for 1270 [MC]! Heck, go all Heavy/Assault and get the DRG-1C and the STK-4N for 2432 [MC]! Any way you do it, this is a great time to pick up those variants!

This sale will be on this weekend (but starting Thursday due to the Good Friday holiday) from March 28th at 10am PST till April 2nd at 10am PST. So act now, MechWarrior!

To further celebrate the Trial By Fire Sale, we’re giving double XP rewards all of this Easter Weekend! This means any XP you earned is doubled; 2x, 200%, increased!

This event will last from this Thursday, March 28th at 10am, till Monday, April 2nd at 10am.

So if you’re using a new Mech, eliting out an existing mech, now is your chance! We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield, and good luck, MechWarriors!

Hrm...Double XP you say? Good time to finish out AS7s. Already have my DDC poised to blast through elite when it unlocks and almost have my D through basic. The RS would need some XP its way.

Still wish they'd run a CB discount at the same time they ran MC sales. Doesn't need to be 50%, could just be 25% discount.

aka1nas wrote:

I haven't touched MWO in a few months and might grab a mech or two with my founders MC and start playing again. Are any of the variants on sale this weekend decent?

mmMMMMmmm. This will be the first time I am not traveling for one of these weekend thingamabobs. This makes me very very happy.

But even at 50% off, I am not spending any more MC for anything you can buy with CBills. No matter how much I want to play with Trebuchets now. (or already planned on picking up that very Dragon for my third variant)

mmMMMMmmm. This will be the first time I am not traveling for one of these weekend thingamabobs. This makes me very very happy.

But even at 50% off, I am not spending any more MC for anything you can buy with CBills. No matter how much I want to play with Trebuchets now. (or already planned on picking up that very Dragon for my third variant)

Agreed. Non-hero mechs as MC purchases are just not where I'd like to blow my money in this game. If I'm gonna throw down that kind of MC, I'm getting paint schemes that Ravebomb's eyeraping color schemes seem like tender, consenual oogling.

And Mech bays. I'm finally going to drop some MC down this weekend to pick up more mech bays. I might not have a car for each day of hte week, but I can fucking have a different Mech for each day of the month if I so wanted.

mmMMMMmmm. This will be the first time I am not traveling for one of these weekend thingamabobs. This makes me very very happy.

But even at 50% off, I am not spending any more MC for anything you can buy with CBills. No matter how much I want to play with Trebuchets now. (or already planned on picking up that very Dragon for my third variant)

Agreed. Non-hero mechs as MC purchases are just not where I'd like to blow my money in this game. If I'm gonna throw down that kind of MC, I'm getting paint schemes that Ravebomb's eyeraping color schemes seem like tender, consenual oogling.

Each to their own and based on lots of external factors. I think I'll both the dragon and the treb. My playtime is severely limited so CB is what's usually limiting for me. Good loadouts are expensive! I've been planning on getting into both dragons and trebs soon so this is opportune. Hell, next month's heavy trial mech is going to be a DRG-5N that's already packing a Gauss, so assuming they keep up the trial-by-fire-sales I can get the 1N and the 5N on sale.

Absolutely! I have already spent the lion's share of my MC, some from a previous Trial-by-Fire sale. I also have a ridiculous amount of Mech Bays, and am now forced to draw the line in the sand. If another MC sale comes up, I will doubtlessly jump on it, and then feel more free to pick up non-hero mechs with it. I just wish I'd bought some when the sale happened three months ago.

I wonder what I'm gonna do next. I was poised to go RVN when completing the AS7 series so I had the light and assault ECMs, but with the absence of LRMs at the moment, ECM feels fairly pointless. Not sure where to go next.

On another note, if ECM ever comes back into prominence, are there any mediums or heavies with ECM in the lore? After we get the Highlander, we'll have a full range of jump-capables.

I haven't touched MWO in a few months and might grab a mech or two with my founders MC and start playing again. Are any of the variants on sale this weekend decent?

The first rule of MWO is never buy something with MC that can be bought with c-bills.The second rule is wait for things to go on sale before buying them.The third rule is for the impatient or those without enough time to grind things out. It reads: Buy whatever! Buy it nao! Just don't accidentally the whole thing.

Besides the technically-a-medium Cicada? Well, you could poke around Sarna and look for some.

The Anvil (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Anvil), maybe? There was also a Cataphract and an Awesome that were ECM capable. A Marauder, too, if you're willing to dip into unseen territory.

Yeah, the tonnage class definitions are definitely more like guidelines when you're right at the line between classes. The Cicada and the Awesome are both tough in that regard (though the Cicada far moreso). But I certainly think the CTF and AWS ECM variants need to be in the game. I realize that part of the problem with the LRMs was ECM requirements severely limiting effective team variations.

I haven't touched MWO in a few months and might grab a mech or two with my founders MC and start playing again. Are any of the variants on sale this weekend decent?

The first rule of MWO is never buy something with MC that can be bought with c-bills.The second rule is wait for things to go on sale before buying them.The third rule is for the impatient or those without enough time to grind things out. It reads: Buy whatever! Buy it nao! Just don't accidentally the whole thing.

Are hero mechs and paint the only things that are MC only atm (I stopped playing beta before any of this stuff was out)?

I haven't touched MWO in a few months and might grab a mech or two with my founders MC and start playing again. Are any of the variants on sale this weekend decent?

The first rule of MWO is never buy something with MC that can be bought with c-bills.The second rule is wait for things to go on sale before buying them.The third rule is for the impatient or those without enough time to grind things out. It reads: Buy whatever! Buy it nao! Just don't accidentally the whole thing.

Are hero mechs and paint the only things that are MC only atm (I stopped playing beta before any of this stuff was out)?

Hero mechs, mech bays. premium time, paint, and cockpit items currently. Technically one of the cooling consumables is MC only but you can get the same effect with a GXP unlock. They have mentioned considering external things like being able to buy an alternate head model for your Atlas or gun barrels for your UAC or the like. That would be a long way off though.

Caesar - a 70-tonner that looks like the Cataphract's thinner, taller brother. The Cataphract itself does have a variant, but it requires Stealth Armor to get introduced, also. Come to think of it, Stealth Armor would be fun to introduce. Certainly more worthwhile than IS Ferro.Griffin - an actual 55-ton medium with ECM, and lore friendly (original SLDF).Thunderbolt - interesting in that there's a standard and a hero version with ECM.

I wonder what I'm gonna do next. I was poised to go RVN when completing the AS7 series so I had the light and assault ECMs, but with the absence of LRMs at the moment, ECM feels fairly pointless. Not sure where to go next.

On another note, if ECM ever comes back into prominence, are there any mediums or heavies with ECM in the lore? After we get the Highlander, we'll have a full range of jump-capables.

Have things changed in the last week? I thought LRMs were still everywhere since the damage was loltastic and everyone should be running ECM as a result?

I wonder what I'm gonna do next. I was poised to go RVN when completing the AS7 series so I had the light and assault ECMs, but with the absence of LRMs at the moment, ECM feels fairly pointless. Not sure where to go next.

On another note, if ECM ever comes back into prominence, are there any mediums or heavies with ECM in the lore? After we get the Highlander, we'll have a full range of jump-capables.

Have things changed in the last week? I thought LRMs were still everywhere since the damage was loltastic and everyone should be running ECM as a result?

Yes. They played around with the blast radius, but more importantly they knocked 40% off of SRM damage (2.5->1.5) and something like 60% off of LRM damage. (0.7 damage per missile, now)

While I'm no fan of nerfing something so hard you admit you need to buff it in the future as you nerf it, I am at least glad to see that non-ECM variants of those respective frames and the better non-ECM capable mechs get some love.

I wonder what I'm gonna do next. I was poised to go RVN when completing the AS7 series so I had the light and assault ECMs, but with the absence of LRMs at the moment, ECM feels fairly pointless. Not sure where to go next.

On another note, if ECM ever comes back into prominence, are there any mediums or heavies with ECM in the lore? After we get the Highlander, we'll have a full range of jump-capables.

Have things changed in the last week? I thought LRMs were still everywhere since the damage was loltastic and everyone should be running ECM as a result?

They fixed the bug with missile damage within 48 hours of it happening. Of course a segment of the playerbase is butthurt about it because they got to experience what was essentially cheatmode for missiles and now they want that all the time. That said, missile tweaking isn't complete and there will be some improvements in upcoming patches.

I've been shuffling a single 300XL among my 3 dragons since they're so expensive. I'm thinking of getting another 300XL, so I can alternate between dragons, or go all out to 350XL/360XL. I'm doing well with 300xl, currently I'm running 2LL+Gauss or 2LL+PPC, or some other mix, and it's fast enough for my taste.

I don't see much point with another 300XL, except that I can have 2 dragons built the way I'm used to. Going with a bigger engine probably means I'll need to cut down on weapons and be even more hit-and-run. Any recommended dragon builds with a 350+XL? Or should I stick to 300XL because 350+XL will be too much engine for not much benefit?

You may want to think about what other mech chassis you will pilot in the future, and get an XL engine that will be useful for other mechs.

For example, Cataphracts*, and Cicadas can only go up to 340. So if you're thinking about using any of those mechs, a 350 will not work.

*some variants will differ

Yeah, that's one other consideration, didn't even think that far. Then even on those chassis that can take 340, you might not want XLs on those. I suppose if I want to upsize, I should get up to 340XL for versatility, unless I have a specific build in mind that NEEDS a 360. 300->340 is already a ~11KPH difference on the dragon

Mechs that can take more than 300-size engines:CDA all variants and CTF most variants (up to 340)CN9-D & TBT-3C (up to 390)AWS-9M and PB (385, 400 resp.)STK up to 310AS7 up to 360

You may want to think about what other mech chassis you will pilot in the future, and get an XL engine that will be useful for other mechs.

For example, Cataphracts*, and Cicadas can only go up to 340. So if you're thinking about using any of those mechs, a 350 will not work.

*some variants will differ

Yeah, that's one other consideration, didn't even think that far. Then even on those chassis that can take 340, you might not want XLs on those. I suppose if I want to upsize, I should get up to 340XL for versatility, unless I have a specific build in mind that NEEDS a 360. 300->340 is already a ~11KPH difference on the dragon

Mechs that can take more than 300-size engines:CDA all variants and CTF most variants (up to 340)CN9-D & TBT-3C (up to 390)AWS-9M and PB (385, 400 resp.)STK up to 310AS7 up to 360

I have been using my XL320 across a bunch of mechs (DRG, CDA and AWS). And the nice thing about that engine is it comes with the CDA-3M or the AWS-9M. So if you want to get a mech with the engine, that's not a bad one to consider. Only thing that sucks is it's 1 size to big for the CPLT (315 max).

So any ideas where I should go next, hivemind? Almost done with Atlases. Ravens seem silly at the moment, so maybe expand my HBK or CTF collection? Dare to be new and embrace a Jagermech? I am in the mood to use the hilariously spammy 4xAC2 build...